Google Unveils Program to Boost Female Engineers in STEM

To help close the gender gap in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), Google unveiled the initiative Grow with Google for Women in STEM. The three-month program aims to train 100 female engineers and student engineers to increase job opportunities in the cloud computing industry. According to data from the Labor Observatory, in 2020 only 19.5 percent of the professionals employed in engineering in Mexico were women. Meanwhile, UNAM, one of the leading public universities in Mexico and Latin America, reported that in 2019 there were only 19 percent of women in mathematics and engineering degrees.

Grow with Google for Women in STEM will mix weekly virtual soft skills sessions with cloud-based topics. Female participants will be able to specialize as Associate Cloud Engineers. In the live virtual sessions, they will also be mentored by people working in Google Cloud including Managing Director of Google Cloud Mexico Julio Velázquez. In the soft skills workshops Google will approach unconscious bias, non-verbal language, leadership and job interview training.

“Gender inequality in the development of STEM-focused professionals is a major challenge,” Google said in a statement. The goal of the big tech program, it added, is to offer a “holistic approach with attendees increasing their knowledge and confidence to apply for engineering jobs” to help close the gender gap in the industry.  The training will start on Sep. 1, 2021.

To be able to take part in this program, female engineers and students must register using this link before August 12. The requisites include:

• Have a profile focused on any engineering and have an interest in the cloud industry

• In the case of students, they must be at most one year away from graduation and have a GPA of 8 minimum. Engineers must be less than one year away from having graduated from school.

• Applicants must have a computer and internet access